With late-game heroics in both a tie on Friday and a win on Sunday, the men’s soccer team registered an undefeated weekend, pushing its record to 2-1-1 on the year. In Friday night’s 1-1 draw in Buffalo against Canisius, Cornell senior forward Matt Bouraee scored the game-tying goal in the 81st minute. Back in Ithaca on Sunday afternoon, a strike from junior midfielder Scott Caldwell found the back of the net with just five and a half minutes to go, propelling the Red to a 2-1 victory over St. Bonaventure.

Bouraee led the Cornell offensive attack throughout the weekend, as he not only notched the game-tying goal on Friday, but he also tallied assists on both of the Red scores on Sunday. With the win, the Red has now doubled its win total from last season, when the squad posted a 1-15 record.

Junior goalkeeper Scott Brody believes that the team has shown new confidence and renewed dedication, which is providing an edge and improvement on both sides of the ball.

“We just refuse to let what happened last year happen again,” Brody said. It’s kind of a mental thing where we have just been pushing harder than any other team will. We just refuse to let anybody beat us to any balls. I think that’s the biggest difference — just the fight for every 50-50 ball, every ball in the air — just the hustle.”

On Friday, the game got off to a sputtering start, as the Red and the Golden Griffins played tightly and conservatively for the first half. In the opening 45 minutes, Cornell managed just two shots on goal and Canisius was unable to test Brody at all.

“The only way to describe that game is that it was just a battle,” Brody explained. “We just sat in, went in hard to every tackle, and just pushed as hard as we could.”

In the second half, the game opened up a little more, and the Red continued to earn chances. However, it was Canisius that struck first, as Griffins senior forward Alan McGreal scored his first goal of the season, putting the Griffins up 1-0 in the 75th minute. With that goal, McGreal set a Canisius soccer program record with 77 career points.

“I think that we underestimated the opponent at first,” Bouraee said. “We were unable to score, but we had a lot of chances. Then, all of a sudden, they got a chance and they finished it so we were down 1-0. It was sudden. On the field, we were all motivated by just acknowledging the fact that we should not be losing at that point.”

The Red did not stay down for long, as just six minutes later, an offensive drive finally produced results. Freshman forward Will Zahn blasted a shot on net that was blocked by Canisius sophomore goalkeeper Adam Miller. However, the rebound bounced right out to Bouraee, who buried the ball in the back of the net, to square the game at 1-1.

“There was a scramble in the box, and Will Zahn, the freshman, got a foot on it and directed it towards the goal,” Bouraee said. “The goalie made a save but was unable to catch it, so there was a rebound. I was able to pounce on it before the defense was and just slam it into the net. It was very exciting for the whole team.”

The teams played through two scoreless overtime periods, as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

After travelling back to Ithaca, the Red took to Berman Field to face off against St. Bonaventure. In Cornell’s home opener, the game once again got off to a slow start as the teams wrapped up a scoreless first half.

The second half was played extremely aggressively, as the two sides were called for a total of 25 fouls. Once again, the Red fell behind 1-0, as St. Bonaventure was able to draw first blood eight minutes into the half with a goal from junior midfielder Fabrizio Savarino.

However, the Red soon erased that deficit. Scott Caldwell took a free kick and sent the ball to Bouraee at the back post. Bouraee impressively headed the ball towards the net, which was redirected by Bonnie’s senior goalkeeper David Flynn and struck the post. The rebound made its way over to Red sophomore midfielder Jimmy Lannon, who sent the ball home, equalizing the game just four and a half minutes after St. Bonaventure had taken the lead.

As the game seemed destined for a tie, the Red orchestrated a beautiful attacking play with five minutes remaining. Kyle Parsons came down the left side, skilfully sent a pass through to Bouraee, who then redirected it to Caldwell, and Caldwell struck the ball passed Flynn, giving the Red a 2-1 win.

“Kyle Parsons got a ball and he turned,” Bouraee said. “There was no one on his back and he very intelligently looked to the inside of the field and towards the goal, while I made a run from the outside of the 18-yard box. He looked the other way but then passed it to me running through. It caught the defense off guard, and I was able to run to the six-yard box on the side. I drew the goalie to the near post, and I knew that the far post was open. I flipped it through the middle of the field while absorbing the goalie’s attention, and Caldwell was there to knock it in. It was a great play overall for the whole team.”

The Red’s propensity for late goals this weekend proved to be the difference in securing success. While they appreciate the late-game drama, the players hope that moving forward, they will also be able to cash in on early opportunities.

“I think we’re getting a lot of chances throughout the game,” Brody said. “I think we are having good chances early in games, but nothing has been going our way on those opportunities. I think we are just persistent, so we just keep trying and eventually we get some goals.”